Was doing 50 miles during the week (commuting) at a fair pace, 1-4 hours on Sat (road) and 2-4 hours on Sundays(MTB)and a few weekly turbo sessions and spinning. Then wondered after Xmas why I couldn’t reach even near my Max HR. Ignored my friends and family saying you are doing too much.

Finally had a rest and took it easier cycling to work now and hey presto – Sat and Sunday great riding 🙂

Anyone else fallen into the trap of over training or getting too obsessed with riding?

Yep, I have an addictive personality. Exercise beats smoking crack though.

Mix up your training… add in swimming, running, weights, climbing, yoga, squash, all of the above. Should minimise the chance of just burning out your legs.

Think so, caught a stupid cold type bug, so taking a couple of days out the saddle and making sure I get it out the system asap. Back on it tonight though, circuit training.

Hmm – good point Yeti – can still do exercise just not using you legs as much 🙂

Tum tee tum. I’ll just walk on by I think 😉

I find it both scary and satisfying to know you can push yourself that hard.

I tend to get ill though which is no fun 🙁

Just walk on Neil 😉 No one likes a smart arse 😉

Yep, was doing 30 miles a day commute, then weekend social rides. Hit the torq recovery drinks to help, but now I just build in a rest day and save money, I’ve read quite a few training books that suggest rest days are an essential part of fitness – no brainer really.

Over trained a few years ago training for the Fred whitton sportive. Lost all power in my legs, couldn’t climb like usual and got dropped easily. It wasn’t nice, and I’ve been quite careful ever since. This year my resolution is to have an easy week if training every 3-4 weeks, which seems to be working so far 🙂

I find it’s easier to over train on the bike than running – when I start training for my marathon I may change my mind though!

Lost all power in my legs, couldn’t climb like usual and got dropped easily

Wow spot on description!

Yup more rest days for me 🙂

Anyone else fallen into the trap of over training or getting too obsessed with riding?

Yep. The latter seems to be a physical manifestation of my wonky brain.

I’m returning to training after the effects of having a new baby in our lives. I doubt I’ll go back to a daily commute (34 mile round trip), but certainly at least 3 days, with a hard 3 hours at the weekend. Turbo at least once a week, and currently doing three days a week of weights/core work.

Still fat as *** though (but that’s the pills…).

I had no difference in my hr so it took me a while to accept that i had over trained, including a trip tp my GP to rule out anything else. I was lifting weights at the same time as my training, so i don’t think its a case of mixing it up and it’ll help prevent over training, its just conplete rest or taking it easy (ime anyway).

What is this training that people speak of? I just ride my bike.

I also suspect that overtraining wont be cured by a couple of days off though.

What ever you call it – Over trained or over ridden or ridden too much….

Tired?

If ya like 😉 Drained?

I don’t think you’re overtrained, it sounds like you’re under-recovered

take a look at this

Yeh that’s the other way of looking at it I guess 🙂

I’ve found with commuting I’d start racing myself all the time, which wasn’t good ended in the same way you describe.

I’m now trying “slow racing” where I can’t let the HR go too high and then race myself. Seems good for developing good efficient riding. Trouble is I now got cold riding to work!

As said sounds more like over-reaching / lack of recovery time rather than overtraining..

If your manage to overtrain in the eyes of a physio/sports scientist they will tell you the recouperation period is 3-4 weeks to get the body back to a state where i can be stressed to its full potential.

This is what my coach says at the moment. Im currently in this state and so bad im off work as i cant stay awake more than a few hours.

You have what is known in sports science as ‘progressive glycogen
depletion’, I must have told you about this every time you have visited me
but you choose to conveniently forget.

The bottom line is you are never filling you tank because of your reluctance
to eat enough. Sometimes it’s nearly full and other times it isn’t.

When it isn’t then your system will not release energy hence you can’t
function as you should.

You have got to get more fuel in the tank on a drip feed type basis, as
little and as often as possible, otherwise you will never even see the start
of the season.

There isn’t a ‘case of over doing it’ otherwise the pros in Europe would
never even survive the first few stages of Le Tour, they just stuff calories
in like they were going out of fashion and you have got to learn to do the
same or take up a less demanding sport.

So remember that “Over training is generally nothing more than under
fuelling

uh oh.

::pulls up a chair:::

I’ve been guilty of it in the past. I don’t consider that I train but I can feel like I do too much. I now frequently measure my resting heart rate first thing in the morning. Five bpm over my norm and I’ll not do the physical stuff I had planned that day. Usually back to normal in a day or two rather than having to take a big lay off.

Rest day today – I am sorry for using the term over-training now 😉

But what ever you call it I think I was not having enough rest periods – I think that sums it up 🙂